


The Art of Deception

by spinninginfinity



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 19:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1176881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinninginfinity/pseuds/spinninginfinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh and Donna keep a secret.</p><p>
  <i>‘I think that went well. There was a moment there where the whole thing could have been blown, but I think I covered for us.’</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Deception

‘Donna!’

Donna feels Josh’s hand tighten around hers as Katherine Marcus crosses the room toward them. ‘Everything’s gonna be fine,’ he murmurs in her ear.

She doesn’t have time to respond before Katherine joins them, shaking Donna’s hand warmly.

‘You’re looking very well,’ Katherine says.

‘Isn’t she?’ Josh asks quickly, before Donna can say anything. ‘I was saying earlier, I think she’s looking very, very well. But then I always think she looks pretty good, so today’s, you know, nothing special.’

‘Thank you, honey,’ Donna says through gritted teeth. ‘Katherine, you know Josh Lyman, of course. Josh, this is Katherine; she’s been an incredible help with a lot of our work in the east wing.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ Katherine shakes Josh’s outstretched hand with a look on her face that suggests she thinks he’s going to bite her. She smiles politely. ‘It’s a beautiful event. I just wanted to say hi.’

‘Okay,’ Josh says, once she’s gone. ‘I think that went well. There was a moment there where the whole thing could have been blown, but I think I covered for us.’

Donna frowns at him. ‘Yeah? What moment was that?’

‘She said you looked well. I thought she meant you were…’ Josh gestures at her face. ‘That glowing thing.’

‘She was being polite, Josh. You were being a moron.’

‘Hey!’ He nudges her, looking annoyed. ‘That was a classic bit of deflection back there. I don’t think she suspected a thing.’

‘Okay.’ She turns to face him properly, resting her hands on his waist. ‘I think really our best bet here is for you to not get all paranoid and weird.’

‘I’m not weird; I wasn’t being weird!’ Josh protests. 'I'm a politician, okay. I understand the art of deception.'

‘You scared her away!’

Josh cranes his neck to look at Katherine, who’s now as far away from them as she possibly can be without leaving the room. ‘She didn’t seem that scared.’

‘Still, I’m saying, I think you should let me handle the cover operation for the rest of the night.’

‘And what am I supposed to do?’ Josh asks.

‘Well, if you could remember you keep secrets considerably bigger than this, and find it somewhere within you to act like a normal human being just for this evening—’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he says. ‘I hear you.’

‘Oh, do I have a treat for you!’ Donna sees Josh start as Helen Santos appears out of nowhere beside them. She waves two glasses at them, smiling brightly. ‘This is the best wine I’ve ever tasted.’

‘Are you a little drunk, ma’am?' Donna asks.

‘Ohh…’ Helen leans in conspiratorially. ‘Only a little. Don’t tell anyone. You want some of this?’

‘Actually, I think—’ Donna begins, but Josh cuts her off.

‘Sure, wine seems good,’ he says, reaching out to take a glass. ‘Donna, doesn’t wine seem good?’

She narrows her eyes at him, taking the other glass. ‘Wine seems great.’

Luckily the First Lady doesn’t stick around to make sure they drink it, leaving Donna free to round on him.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ she demands.

‘You don’t think it looks suspicious if you’re not drinking anything?’

She sighs. ‘No, I think it looks like I don’t want to drink.’

Josh considers. ‘I think it looks suspicious.’

‘It _doesn’t_. Except I now have a glass of wine I can’t drink!’

‘No, no, I have that covered,’ he assures her.

‘Yeah? How?’

‘I’m going to drink it for you.’

Donna purses her lips. ‘Josh, do you remember what I said approximately a minute and a half ago about acting like a normal person?’

Josh nods. ‘I do.’

‘And you remember how you tend to respond to alcohol?’

‘Yeah, and I always think you wildly exaggerate that.’ He holds his hand out for the glass. ‘Come on. It’s two glasses of wine. I take a sip of yours, a sip of mine—’

‘Or I could just put it down somewhere.’

‘You don’t want to offend the First Lady.’ 

Donna shakes her head, resigned. ‘Okay. I kind of want to see what happens.’

‘Nothing’s going to happen,’ Josh assures her. ‘I can handle this.’

***

‘Josh?’ Donna says tentatively. ‘Are you feeling okay?’

‘Hello,’ Josh says cheerfully. ‘How was your conversation with whatshisname?’ He blinks at her. ‘Why are there two of you?’

She folds her arms. ‘Handling the alcohol just fine, I see.’

‘I am—’ He holds up a finger, swaying a little on the spot, and then frowns. ‘Does my hand look weird to you?’

‘How much have you had? I haven’t accepted another drink from anyone.’

‘Yeah, but I’ve accepted some on your behalf. The First Lady is very perser— persva— she can make you do things, okay? She’s wily. She has wiles. We’re so lucky to have her.’

‘Mrs. Santos asked you if I wanted another drink?’ Donna asks, confused.

‘No. She asked me if I wanted another drink and I said I’d take one for you as well so that no one suspects anything.’

‘Josh—’

‘And nobody does!’ he continues, throwing out his arm in a sweeping gesture around the room. ‘Not a single person here.’ He turns back to her, grinning triumphantly.

‘Wow,’ Donna says. ‘I’m so happy to be bearing the fruit of your loins.’

Josh stares at her for a moment, and then giggles in a way she plans to tease him about later. ‘You said “loins”.’

‘You are a grown man who runs the country,’ she reminds him.

‘It’s a funny word.’

‘Can I offer you a drink?’ a waiter asks, and Donna grabs Josh’s hand before he can accept.

‘We’re fine, thank you,’ she says.

The waiter nods and moves on.

‘He’s probably wondering why you didn’t want one,’ Josh mutters, peering after the waiter. ‘Probably piecing it together in his head right now… it’s only a matter of time before—’

‘Josh,’ Donna says. ‘You’re completely round the bend.’ She softens at the forlorn look on his face. ‘A couple more weeks, okay?’ she says gently. ‘It’s only a couple more weeks and then we can tell people.’

He nods. ‘Okay.’ There’s a pause. ‘Wow,’ he says. ‘I am really, really drunk.’

‘You are a little,’ she agrees.

‘Can you please take me home before I do or say something embarrassing?’

She smiles, taking his hand. ‘Sure.’

***

In the car, he leans his head on her shoulder and rests a hand on her belly. ‘Donna,’ he whispers.

‘Yeah?’

‘I really am happy you’re bearing the fruit of my loins,’ he tells her. He turns his face into her shoulder, kissing it. ‘Even though I don’t think that’s what we should say when we tell people.’

Donna stifles a laugh, letting her cheek rest against his hair. ‘No,’ she says. ‘No, I think you’re probably right about that.’

‘Just say we’re having a baby, probably. I think that’s the way to word it.’

She nods. ‘Yeah.’

‘I can’t wait,’ Josh murmurs to her.

Swallowing, Donna covers the hand on her stomach with her own and squeezes. ‘Yeah,’ she whispers. ‘Me neither.’

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As always, any feedback is welcome and appreciated!


End file.
